A blog by Regional Leader for the North East and Midlands Elim Churches UK

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What if …?

Acts 23:9 There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. ‘We find nothing wrong with this man,’ they said. ‘What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?’

When those who oppose you divide then some of them can begin to defend you. This is what happened with Paul that day. The Pharisees believed in the supernatural, they believed it possible that the Spirit and angels communicate with us. They were not defending Paul’s stance that it was Jesus who appeared to him on the Damascus Road, but they were interpreting this vision as coming from an angel or the Spirit, something that the Sadducees would not accept.

What if …?

It is a shame that when they asked that question they shaped it to fit their theology. If they had asked, “What if Paul is right and he did see Jesus on the Damascus Road?” Can you imagine what possibly could have happened?

What if …?

The problem with this is that we can never think of the things that are impossible to ask.

We can think of miracles because they fit into our theology.

But we cannot think of the ‘what if’ questions outside of that.

Questions related to other religions, sexuality and human rights, what if …?

What we can do is when presented with something or someone, no matter how weird and wonderful the story or they may be, we can ask ourselves, what if they are right?